eggs

eggs

As scientists with the federal government search for the source of the salmonella that made thousands of people sick this summer and trace how it spread, researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences are developing a new and more accurate method of acquiring the bacteria's identity.

An issue making headlines these days is the highly publicized food recall involving eggs in the United States and the more than 1,000 cases of salmonella reported. The tainted eggs have not reached Pennsylvania and Penn State Campus Dining is following its well-established procedures for monitoring and responding to food issues that might affect its services.

Although a Salmonella scare and egg recall is taking place across much of the country, Pennsylvania-produced eggs are safer to eat, according to poultry experts in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. That's thanks to a program Penn State researchers helped Keystone State egg producers start almost two decades ago, which was the model for the national program to guard against egg contamination implemented just this July.

A study conducted by researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences has shown that eggs produced by chickens allowed to forage in pastures are higher in some beneficial nutrients. In the research, titled "Vitamins A, E and fatty acid composition of the eggs of caged hens and pastured hens," which was published online this year in the January issue of Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, researchers examined how moving pastured hens to forage legumes or mixed grasses influenced hen egg omega-3 fatty acids and concentrations of vitamins A and E.

As the public and various interest groups debate the relative pros and cons of different egg-production practices and poultry-housing options, poultry scientists in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences say modern, science-based methods are helping to meet consumer demand for safe and nutritious eggs.

But chill them too fast, and the eggshells crack— invisibly—giving this stomach-churning bacteria easy entry during that warm car-ride, for instance, from store to fridge. And, according to graduate students J. Lin and T. A. Fajardo, the proposed "more restrictive Pennsylvania regulations related to cooling of eggs might potentially worsen this situation if eggs are cooled improperly."